3014.— Numerical Value of Roman Letters
By Editor
Will you kindly inform me what must be taken as a standard for computing the numerical value of “Vicarius Filii Dei”? My Webster’s Unabridged apportions the numerical value to many of the letters found in those three Latin words besides those taken to represent 666. L. W. B. The usual letters used to represent values in the Roman notation are I, V, X, L, C, D, M. We do not know of any others that are used in that notation. Every number can be expressed by those letters singly or in combination. M is thought to be simply a double D, so that some authorities do not give M as one of the regular letters of numerical value. All Roman numbers so far as we know use simply these letters and no others; and by the use of these letters which occur in “Vicarius Filii Dei,” U and V used interchangeably, which is proper, 666 is the result. If our correspondent would tell us in what way and where and under what heading Webster’s Unabridged gives such information as he suggests, we perhaps could better help him.